TiE DC’s incoming president Sheela Murthy and outgoing president Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy presented the award to Singh at the organization’s annual gala, held at the headquarters of Capital One in McLean, VA, on December 8.

The TiE DC Legends Award is given to an outstanding entrepreneur for risk-taking, dedication to the Greater Washington area, community mentoring of young entrepreneurs and philanthropy.

In giving the award to Singh, the TiE DC board considered a number of factors including, “companies successfully founded and funded, value created through M&A or IPO, jobs created, number of successful mentees and community involvement, said Murthy.

She recalled that Singh, a former president of TiE DC, is “best-known for his ‘management by walking around’ style, favoring in-person meetings with so many of our members and entrepreneurs.

Singh, who has an MBA from Harvard Business School, has founded and led a number of successful companies, especially in the telecom sector. He founded Rezon8 in 2011. Based in Great Falls, VA, it partners with founders and CEOs of tech-driven service companies in different industries.

Rezon8 has invested in a number of companies, and its portfolio companies include early startups as well as later stage companies.

Prior to Rezon8, Singh served as Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of the global telecom company Primus Telecommunications. Another company that he founded is Overseas Telecommunications, Inc. (OTI).

In his acceptance speech, Singh stressed the importance of mentorship — especially “reverse mentorship.” He also called on TiE members to fund millennials, whom he described as the future.

Earlier, Dr. Priyadarshy, who served as the president of the group in the past two years, introduced his successor, Murthy.

“It’s been an honor to serve our organization as president for the past two years,” he said.

Dr. Priyadarshy is Chief Data Scientist at Halliburton and a Senior Fellow of International Cyber Security Center at George Mason University.

Handing over the “baton,” he said TiE DC is “fortunate to have strong leadership in the year ahead, as we take on new challenges and further our mission.”

Murthy, the founder of Murthy Law Firm, one of the best-known immigration law firms in the country, thanked the outgoing leader for bringing the organization “to the beginning” of its “next exciting chapter.”

The ace lawyer, who earned her Master of Laws from Harvard Law School, has won a number of legal, entrepreneurship and leadership awards over the years, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2009), Best Lawyers® in America (since 2016) and 20 Most-Admired CEOs in Maryland.